Internal controversy! Italian media: Juventus board of directors opposes two proposals from new shareholder Tether

Corriere della Sera reported that a dispute broke out within the Juventus board of directors. The board of directors, led by Exor, the majority shareholder holding 65.4% of the shares, publicly opposed two key proposals proposed by new shareholder Tether for the upcoming shareholders' meeting on November 7, and called on other shareholders to vote against it.

Tether is a cryptocurrency giant led by Giancarlo Devasini and Paolo Ardoino. Its core demands are first aimed at the club's planned capital increase of 110 million euros due to a loss of 58.1 million euros in the last financial year. Tether requested modifications to the capital increase plan, insisting that all existing shareholders must be given preemptive rights to "ensure the maximum investment value of each shareholder" and "avoid the dilution of current shares held." The Juventus board of directors countered that the existing plan - it was not clear whether it included preemptive subscription rights, but the Tether proposal omitted the words "up to 10%" in the board of directors' plan - caused "limited dilution", and that increasing the preemptive subscription rights would force the issue price to provide a "higher discount."

Tether’s second request is to amend the company’s articles of association to increase the influence of minority shareholders in management. Specifically, they requested that the number of board seats from the list of minority shareholders with the second largest number of votes be increased from one to two, and that one seat from this list be ensured in each internal committee. Tether has submitted a list of two candidates including Francesco Gallino and Zachary Lyon. In addition, Tether also requested that if a director resigns, his successor must be automatically selected from the same candidate list.

In response, the Juventus board of directors, chaired by Gianluca Ferrero, responded strongly, saying that the existing structure "is in compliance with current laws and regulations" and that Tether's proposal "does not pursue the considerations and interests of all non-controlling shareholders." The board of directors has explicitly requested the shareholder meeting to vote against all Tether proposals.